A reference current generator circuit supplying a reference current serving as a reference of circuit operation is used in an electronic circuit such as a large scale integrated circuit (LSI).
For example, a reference voltage or a reference current is needed to operate electronic circuits including an analog circuit having a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) to operate. Such electronic circuit includes a reference current generator circuit to generate a reference current.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-118451, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-285019, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-066921 describe reference current generator circuits.
The reference current generated by the reference current generator circuit may be fed to a load circuit of the electronic circuit or drained from the load circuit.
The current-source type load circuit in which current is fed into and the current-sink type load circuit in which current is sunk therefrom are different from each other in the direction of current flow. The reference current generator circuit of a different type may be required depending on the type of the load circuit, in other words, the direction of current flow.
Since the current-source type load circuit and the current-sink type load circuit are different from each other in the direction of current flow, it is rather difficult to handle the reference circuit generator circuit as a black-box circuit. If the load circuit is connected to a reference current generator circuit in error, the load circuit is likely to malfunction.
It is desirable to provide a reference current generator circuit which can be connected to a load circuit regardless of the direction of current, and is easily handled as a black-box circuit, and to provide an information processing apparatus including the reference current generator circuit.